{"id":26387,"date":"2020-08-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/25\/guam-needs-aegis-ashore\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:16:07","slug":"guam-needs-aegis-ashore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2020\/08\/25\/guam-needs-aegis-ashore\/","title":{"rendered":"Guam needs Aegis Ashore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

American military superiority compared to China has eroded<\/a> in recent years. The frequent inability of Congress and the Pentagon to provide timely capabilities for combatant commanders represents an important reason. The current debate surrounding the defense of Guam will demonstrate whether anything has changed in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a report<\/a> to Congress earlier this year, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command warned that the military balance of power in the region continues to become \u201cmore unfavorable,\u201d potentially inviting aggression from Beijing. To address this dangerous situation, INDOPACOM says the \u201cmost important action we can take\u201d is establishing a \u201c360-degree persistent and integrated air defense capability in Guam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Americans not following this debate closely may wonder what is so special about Guam. Yet, America\u2019s military command, which understands best the threat from Beijing, believes Guam is the U.S. military\u2019s \u201cmost important operating location in the Western Pacific\u201d \u2014 one the United States \u201cmust fight from\u201d and \u201cmust also fight for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to see why. Guam houses Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, and is home to nearly 169,000 Americans. In a potential conflict with China, the United States would need Guam to support forward-positioned blocking forces engaged in combat along the first island chain, while also using Guam to facilitate the flow of reinforcements<\/a> from Hawaii and the continental United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, Guam is close enough to likely conflict areas with China to provide essential support to forward-positioned American and allied troops, but far enough away to be out of the range of many Chinese weapons. For that reason, Beijing has been sprinting to field an increasingly formidable missile arsenal to target the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Missile Defense Agency and sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, conduct a flight test this month. (DOD photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Beijing has already fielded a number of ballistic and cruise missiles that can target Guam. That includes the land-based DF-26, a road-mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile sometimes called the \u201cGuam Killer.\u201d The arsenal also includes cruise missiles that could be launched at Guam from any direction using H-6 bombers or naval vessels. And Beijing is also developing hypersonic missiles, such as the DF-17, that can target Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the Pentagon has deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to Guam. And as a stopgap measure, anti-missile-capable Aegis destroyers ply nearby waters to provide protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The THAAD system, however, is designed to defend against high-altitude terminal threats and cannot be expected to address cruise missiles. And parking multimission Aegis destroyers off of Guam\u2019s coast to provide protection against missiles is hardly the best use of finite U.S. Navy vessels desperately needed elsewhere to deter an increasingly aggressive Chinese Navy that is growing in both size and capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this current missile defense configuration will become increasingly inadequate as Beijing\u2019s missile arsenal grows in quality and quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\t